Rio Ferdinand's England career at an end as Manchester United defender is omitted from Euro 2012 squad

Rio Ferdinand has been left out of the England squad for the finals of Euro
2012 and is expected to retire from international football.

Over and out: Rio Ferdinand's 15-year England career is at an endPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Jason Burt and Henry Winter

10:40PM BST 15 May 2012

When asked on Tuesday night, after Manchester United’s friendly in Belfast, whether he had been omitted from the squad, he replied: “Yes, that’s right.”

Roy Hodgson, the new England manager, will announce his squad on Wednesday and all eyes will be on whether the 23 names include John Terry, who is facing trial for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother, Anton.

Chelsea players involved in Saturday’s Champions League final in Munich will be given more days off while the rest of the squad will probably convene at Arsenal’s training complex ahead of the friendly away to Norway a week on Saturday.

Ferdinand received a phone call on Tuesday afternoon from Hodgson informing him of the decision.

Hodgson is also understood to have visited the Chelsea training ground on Tuesday morning – ahead of the club’s media day for the final against Bayern Munich – to speak to the four England players: Terry, Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole.

Ferdinand, 33, who last played for England in the 2-2 draw with Switzerland in June of last year, will now concentrate on extending his career at Old Trafford but is bitterly disappointed at missing out on one last major championship for his country.

He has suffered from bad luck, having been named captain for the 2010 World Cup finals after Terry was stripped of the armband, for the first time, only to get injured on day one of training in South Africa and having to return home before the tournament started. He will never get to play in the Euros.

He was not selected in 2000, was banned in 2004, England did not qualify in 2008 and he is now dropped for 2012.

Hodgson’s decision will defuse any tension that would have surrounded the squad had both Ferdinand and Terry been included but it is, if he selects neither, still a bold move, particularly as Chris Smalling is also injured.

Hodgson is a pragmatist and will have examined Ferdinand’s patchy availability for England, given his injuries, and also taken into account the opinion of United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who has said the defender would struggle to play two games in four days.

Hodgson will announce 23 players today, plus at least two standbys – neither of whom is Ferdinand, but one of them is likely to be Everton’s Phi Jagielka.

Phil Jones, Ferdinand’s United team-mate, is expected to be included as a central defender but he can also provide cover at right-back, and in midfield, which would enable Hodgson to take a fifth striker, with Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two group games against France and Sweden.

There could be a call for Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has impressed in his first season in the Premier League.

Such is the sensitivity surrounding Ferdinand and Terry that Hodgson has, as he promised, spoken to both individually although he did not discuss the issue surrounding the trial with them.

Hodgson had appeared to indicate he would have face-to-face meetings with both players but has only met with Terry.

He also had meetings last week with Rooney and Steven Gerrard – expected to be named captain ahead of Scott Parker, who is trying to overcome an Achilles injury but should be selected, and Joe Hart, who was consulted on the choice of Dave Watson as England’s goalkeeping coach.

Terry lost the England captaincy for a second time this year after it was decided by the Football Association that he could not carry on because of the impending trial for his alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea’s Premier League match away to Queens Park Rangers in October.

Terry, who will go to court a week after the final of Euro 2012, denies the charge. The issue led to the resignation of Fabio Capello as England manager in February after the Italian felt he was being undermined by the FA.

Hodgson, in taking the post, also accepted that Terry could not be England captain, though the FA insisted that the stance did not preclude the defender’s selection as a player.

Ferdinand considered his international future after having the captaincy taken away from him by Capello. He has also suffered from injuries, particularly back problems, and appeared to about to be phased out by Capello. But he has enjoyed a strong campaign with United and had hoped a change of manager would improve his prospects.

If neither Terry nor Ferdinand is selected it could mean that England’s first-choice central defenders going into the tournament could be Cahill and Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott, with Jones as back-up. That, though, would be a fairly inexperienced line-up in terms of caps.

Hodgson will still opt for an experienced squad and there are not expected to be many new names, other than possibly Oxlade-Chamberlain.

England have two warm-up matches, away to Norway and at home to Belgium, before departing for the finals. Hodgson has received a boost with Cahill declaring himself fit for Saturday’s Champions League final and the Euro campaign.